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Title: Relic (Bookcassette(r) Edition)
ISBN: 156100605X
Author:
Douglas Preston
Lincoln Child
Publicate Date: 1995-02-01
Publish: 1995-02-01
List Price: $23.95
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Format: Audio Cassette
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $86.06
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $40.97
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| Customer Review: |
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1: A little disappointed by the lack of originality
This was my third Agent Pendergast novel. After reading Wheel of Darkness (an uneven effort) I was encouraged to try another of the Preston / Childs collaborations. I read Still Life with Crows and found it to be a highly entertaining page turner so I thought I would start at the beginning.
The Relic opens strongly but soon begins to feel a little too familiar. It's basically just a re-tread of Jaws, Alien, Jurassic Park et al. A group of people are trapped in a large enclosed area, in this case a museum and its sub basement (rather than a space ship, an island, or the Atlantic Ocean) with a creature that is killing and eating them (or parts of them) one at a time. The pressure to hold the Museum opening, despite the killings, reminded me of the political pressure Brody experiences to keep the beaches open, against his better judgement, on Memorial Day weekend in Jaws.
I know the ending was supposed to be exciting (and it is reasonably entertaining) but it all felt too familiar and my interest began to wane just when the novel should have had me riveted. Pendergast plays a much smaller role in this novel than he did in the other novels. It doesn't seem like Pendergast had fully come into his own yet in The Relic. He is a much more captivating character in Still Life with Crows. The other characters in this novel are lifeless and two-dimensional. Again, this is very much in contrast with Still Life with Crows, where the supporting cast of characters were very engaging.
All in all, a disappointing effort. This isn't a bad novel, it just lacks originality. I'm not dissuaded though and plan to carry on with the series (although I may take a break before reading the next entry).
3 ?? stars
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2: not the best book i've ever read
i read this based on the great reviews it received on this website- well, i was disappointed- first of all, it was quite far fetched- but if it had been better written then i wouldn't have doubted it (like the harry potter series- those books are so well written, that you completely believe everything stated is true)-
as well, it may sound strange but knowing what the creature was and what it looked like (the picture on the cover) totally ruined it for me- there was nothing to find out- we all know who was committing these grisly murders/what was hiding in that museum-
1/3 into the book, the detective and female lead started to bore me and i just couldn't get into it- ended up skimming the rest of the way through-
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3: The Pot Boils Over
These two authors are fond of using the New York Museum of Natural History as a backdrop for their thrillers. This is their first book and it is a doozie! A strange half-reptilian beast is roaming the sub-basements and corridors of the Museum disemboweling lost visitors, guards who stop for a reefer and stray researchers. Then it eats their brains.
A lovely grad student Margo Green, her wheelchair-bound adviser Dr Frock, an FBI agent from New Orleans, Special Agent Pendergast, the New York cop Lt. D'Agosta, the journalist Bill Smithback and a lively cast of several others all interact to solve the mystery of the beast's origins and defeat the monster.
This book is great on atmospherics and the characters -- once the authors get around to allowing some of them to live -- are quite lively. This book is a fun read, with a lot of pseudoscience kicked in.
I found the beast was so over the top that I just couldn't believe in it. And many of the characters acted in outrageously stupid fashions. I could not believe that the Director and Chief Publicist for a museum would insist on having a grand opening for an exhibit when three disemboweled and headless bodies had been discovered in the museum and the murderer is uncaught and lurking in the basement. One wondered if their brains had already been eaten by something else.
But this is a grand book for summer reading. Enjoy this potboiler, because it brims and boils over with fun.
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4: riveting
I accidently read another book written by these authors and found it a real page turner. So I bought this one. It was "riveting". I couldn't put it down. I ended up buying all the books these authors have turned out. It's been a long time since I've read a book I couldn't put down.
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5: excellent thriller
This was my introduction to Lincoln and Child and Pendergast. Wow, what an introduction. I did not watch the movie, so had no pre-conceived notions of what should be happen and I was on the edge of my seat all the way. I immediately sought out Reliquary and other books of these authors. The plot is both intriguing and scary at the same time. I found myself both wanting to know what was going to happen and dreading what was going to happen. If you like scare your socks off thrillers and aren't upset by a bit of gore, this book is for you!
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